hanging by a moment
by MedusaOfTheSpecies
Summary: Lilies mean a fresh start. Cho is healing. Life goes on. :: Cho Chang, a dead boy, an Ouija board, and trying to move on when you're breaking at the seam.


**hanging by a moment**

It's the stupidest thing she's ever done in her life and Cho prides herself on intelligence, on being the kind of person worthy of her house and her pride.

But this—

It's insanity. She's so desperate it takes her breath away as she stares the caricature of a girl in the mirror, all hollow cheeks and sunken eyes.

 **...**

The Ouija board itself is nothing special, just a borrowed object from a muggleborn Hufflepuff who had been all too happy to give it away. The boy has told Cho that strange things had happened, keeping the board in the house.

Supernatural type things: slammed doors, switched off lights and _voices_.

Cho thinks she'd kill some days to hear Cedric's voice again, hearty and happy, and the thought does nothing but depresses her further. He would never condone violence like that, but Cedric has always been a better person than Cho could ever even plan to be.

 **...**

Her setup is marvelous, perhaps the only thing left over from her days as the sharp-eyed and successful Ravenclaw darling who had planned for so much and achieved ever more. Now, her past-self mocks her in reflections and glimpses, lost to the war and a tournament gone horribly wrong.

It's funny to think about how, once upon a time, her mother used to be so proud of all of Cho's achievements. Now, Cho doesn't even remember the last time she'd spoken to her mother and even that thought can't bring any emotion to her/

 **...**

Cho sits beside Cedric's grave, biting her lip. It's part excitement and part nervousness, she's high on the anticipation of _something,_ anything more than the half-life she's been living recently.

The night is dark, windy and cold one, the kind of night where nobody sane would go outdoors. Cho shivers, sinking deeper into the oversized sweater before she remembers it's not hers, but Cedric's. She hasn't worn any of his clothes since he died, unable to stand the reminder of their relationship, but tonight she needs that comfort he had always provided.

The tears threaten to overwhelm her as they fall down, soaking through the sweater and turning it an almost violet shade inside of the light purple Cedric had adored. Soundlessly, Cho conjures a tissue box. It's the only spell she can do wordlessly and there's a cruel kind of joke in that.

Wiping the tears away impatiently, Cho makes the box disappear and leans against the cold marble of headstone. The spinner lays dormant, waiting for her words.

"Cedric, are you here?" she whispers. "I miss you. I miss you so much, you don't even get it. It feels like I'm drowning without you around. I don't even have friends anymore, everyone has left but Marietta and gosh, I love her but she messed up and things have gotten too bad lately, Ced, I needed you here to help—"

Cho stops, wiping her eyes impatiently as she waits for an answer. Any minute now, the spinner will start to move and she knows it won't bring Cedric back, but just having his advice to help her go on would enough. Just a hint of him, something to fight for, would be enough.

A minute passes. Two. Three. The seconds stretch so slowly Cho feels like she has been here for an eternity and the wind lashes at her cheeks as the moon taunts her from the sky.

She sits for so long she falls asleep until Marietta comes to get her, dressed in a jacket and holding an even warmer one in her hands.

"Wake up, Cho," Marietta whispers, sniffing in distaste as she sees the position her best friend is in. It's not until she sees the grave that it registers.

"Oh, Cho," she observes tiredly, dragging her best friend up by the arm. Cho doesn't respond verbally, dully staring down at the grave instead. It's over for her. There will never be another chance again, not like this.

 **...**

Marietta makes all the excuses, finishes all of Cho's homework, and curls up by her side every night to wake her after the bad dreams.

Cho has never been more thankful for her best friend.

 **...**

Cho does not visit Cedric's grave for five years after. She marries Marietta in a quiet wedding ceremony with nobody outside her family and the DA, adopts a war orphan and tries to give the child a better world than she ever had, gets a job protecting human rights and never gives in.

When she does visit, she does not weep. She has fought a war in thrown spells and sharp prejudice, but she sees quieter battles every day that no longer stain her world blood-red. If she feels ancient in the creaks of her bones and the avalanche of emotions she no longer suppresses, it is only now a reminder of how far she has come.

"Ced," Cho Chang whispers, leaning down to put a bouquet of lilies down. "I have so much to tell you."

 **...**

Lilies mean a fresh start. Cho is healing. Life goes on.

 **...**

Written for:

Character Appreciation - (word) joke

Disney Challenge: Piglet - Write about someone who feels small.

Ambers Attic: You are not weak just because your heart feels so heavy.

Book Club: Mama-ji: (color) blood red, (word) ancient, (word) familiar

Showtime: That Guy - write about feeling insecure

Count Your Buttons: (song) "Hanging By a Moment" by Lifehouse, (word) avalanche

Lyric Alley: The light dims without regret

Ami's Audio Admirations: King Falls - Word: Fall

Sophie's Shelf: Laura (1994) - Write about being in love with someone who has passed away.

Lo's Lowdown: Steve Rogers - write about an underdog

Pinata Challenge: Angst Pinata

Auction: (colour) violet

Film Festival: Character - Basket Case

Gobstones: Black - Past, (weather) Windy, (quote) "When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive." - Alan Paton, (word) Shiver

Scavenger Hunt: Write a fluffy fic about death.

Easter Bingo: 33 [Restriction: No using the word 'said']

Build a Bunny: green — flower: Lilies


End file.
